Ian Valentine

Yesterday, 44 people, including a slew of public officials and religious leaders across New Jersey and New York, were arrested as part of a federal investigation into an international money laundering ring and corruption scheme. That corruption exists in New Jersey politics is no surprise. That most of the public officials arrested yesterday are from Hudson County is also no surprise. But the sheer number of people involved in this scheme — and their brazenness — is pretty stunning.

One of the accused is the newly elected mayor of Hoboken, a city near where I grew up and near where my dad still works. The city's mayor allegedly received $25,000 in bribes from a developer seeking to build high-rise developments in town. Another who was arrested, Jeff Williamson, is a housing inspector in Lakewood, the next town over from where I live now. Williamson was also a Democratic state assembly candidate for my district in 2007. He is accused of taking $16,000 in bribes and providing illegal office space to a witness in the case.

I can't say I'm surprised... after all, corruption has been endemic in New Jersey politics since before I was born. I'm not surprised, but I am disappointed and annoyed.

This is why New Jersey is regularly portrayed as being crawling with mobsters and stinking of corruption.

This is why so many see New Jersey as "the armpit of America."

This is why, as Rodney Dangerfield would say, we don't get any respect.

It seems that so many from outside the state think that all of New Jersey looks like the stretch of Turnpike between Manhattan and Newark Airport, or that The Sopranos is practically a reality show. We New Jerseyans have a lot of work to do to correct those perceptions, but ordinary people can't do it alone. We need our public officials to spread the word about our state and inform people that no, Jimmy Hoffa isn't buried beneath the end zone at Giants Stadium, and yes, our state has nice, clean beaches, picturesque small towns, and the largest and most well preserved reserve on the East Coast.

We need to turn our state's image around, and every time a politician somewhere in New Jersey puts themselves ahead of their constituents, does something stupid and gets arrested... it gives more ammunition to the critics, the naysayers, the haters, and the late night comedians who malign our state for a cheap laugh.

So, to all the politicians in New Jersey: if you think you might want to help a developer get some permits in exchange for some quick cash... if you're eyeing over some "gifts" that look enticing... don't do it. Because it's corruption that gives our state a bad name.

That, and The Real Housewives of New Jersey.